After a Notice of Claim is filed against the City of New York, the Comptroller's Office routinely demands a 50-h hearing, which resembles a deposition: the claimant answers questions under oath about how the sidewalk fall happened, the defect involved, and the medical treatment received. A claimant generally cannot start the lawsuit until the demanded hearing is held, and failing to appear can doom the case. Transcripts from these hearings often decide settlement value. In sidewalk matters, 50-h hearings apply to claims against the City, not to suits against private abutting owners.
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